For the Love of Crochet Hats

Somewhere in here, there's a hat waiting to be crocheted.

One of my favorite crochet projects to make is a hat. When I first started relearning crochet, I made granny squares. Then I made a hat. In retrospect, it should have been the other way around.

Hats are so easy to make, and they provide nearly instant gratification. A basic beanie, shown in this fantastic tutorial, can be crocheted in a couple hours if it's for a newborn or two nights if it's for an adult.

Basic beanie

I can't even begin to tell you how many crochet basic beanie hats I've made! It's my go-to hat pattern, which I usually personalize with favorite colors or embellishments, like this:

Basic beanie with flower

 Because I need creativity the way we all need oxygen, I've tried many other crochet hat patterns. A few have been unraveled and made into something else. Many have gone on to a new home. That's what I love about hats -- they're easy and fun to make, and are great gifts. After all, is there any such thing as too many hats? Here are a few other styles I've enjoyed creating.

Newsboy cap

Pumpkin hat

For the football fan

Owl hat

My last hat project was for the two baby girls that were born into our family last week. I used the basic beanie instructions, but changed to the granny stitch after the last row of increases. This simple change adds such a pretty twist to a basic hat.

Basic beanie with granny stitch in the middle

Hat Tips: One of the most important things I learned -- the hard way, of course -- is to crochet hats to the HAT size, not the HEAD size. If you crochet to the head circumference (at the widest part), you'll end up with a hat that's too big or too lose. Measure the widest part of the head and subtract 2 inches or 5 cm. You'll get the perfect fit every time.

Do you enjoy making crochet hats? What's your favorite pattern? Today it's all about hats!

WIPs and UFOs...Oh My!

Come on now...you know you've got them. They're hiding in drawers, lurking in the back of a closet or stuck in a pile of other UFOs waiting to become FOs. Maybe they achieved their current WIP state because they were taking too long to finish. Or, perhaps, you had a mild case of Shiny Things Syndrome and found something else to work on.

Works in Progress (WIPs) and UnFinished Objects (UFOs) are par for the course for those who crochet regularly. Personally, I don't like loose ends...literally or figuratively...so I try to finish what I start. "Try" is the key word here.

Last week, I was searching through my yarn supply because I couldn't find the exact color I wanted. You know how that goes. But that's another blog post entirely..

In any case, I looked through my yarn stash, which is divided into several bags. Then, because I still hadn't found the color I was looking for, I started searching through drawers and cabinets. You never know where an errant skein of yarn might be found! Glory be! Guess what I found, left in a drawer in the Spring of 2013 and forgotten completely.

 First (But Unintentional) WIP

Forgotten color block afghan

 Second (Also Unintentional) WIP

Cream, gray and blue granny squares

Third (Intentional) WIP

Beginnings of a Christmas afghan for one of my kids...but in January?!

 And the first two projects -- poor forgotten crochet squares -- were found in a Walmart plastic bag in this drawer. Shame on me! 

WIP hiding place

 The first WIP is a color block lap afghan made with super-soft 3-ply yarn I bought here in Germany. I WILL finish it because it's the perfect weight for springtime and will look nice draped over the arm of our black leather sofa. 

The second WIP -- the cream, turquoise and gray granny squares -- I honestly have no idea what to do with them. I don't have enough of the blue and gray colors to make enough squares for an afghan or even a scarf. Maybe you have some ideas. Perhaps I'll have to use them as an excuse to BUY MORE YARN while I'm in the States!!!

Tell me about your WIPs and UFOs. Come on, I know you've got some lying about, waiting to be finished!